Lo, these many years ago when I was a much younger and angrier soul, I had a 4-track tape recorder and a room full of guitars, amps, cheap microphones, keyboards and whatnot, and a burning desire to change the world through music. I called myself Ted Worthless and released about a half-dozen albums home-recorded on cassette tapes that I made available through mail order advertized in various underground zines. Pretty much everything I ever wrote and recorded was composed directly to the 4-Track machine raw, with no rehearsal or redos – I have always been a big believer that the first thought is always the best one. Most of those releases were pure garbage, but occasionally something would get put on tape that I can still listen to today. This is one of those things…
Well, that’s the way a kid in his 20’s could afford to think about life. That facing a normal, uneventful day could be a loss. That not starting the revolution that morning was a defeat. I have certainly shifted my views on this in my old age, of course. Getting out of the shower in the morning every day these days really feels like a win to me.
Selah – RRTM
Oh, yes, the old 4-tracks. I lost count of what tape recorders I had when. Started with a mono Crown broadcast machine in Jr. High and went all the way to a Tascam 8-track that used 3/4 inch wide video/audio tape. I forget the model but I remember my console a Tascam 15 that mixed from 24 inputs to 8 to 4 to 2 out that was customized to give me another 8 or 4 mix down buss. It is so long I forget those details I never thought I would forget. I need to find some photos.
Now digital makes home studios so simple.
The most sophisticated I ever got was the year I sprung for a used Otari 8-track that took 1/2″ reel-to-reel tape. We’d formed a band by then, and we set that Otari up in an abandoned house in an orange orchard that just happened to still have electricity running to it. The result of those recording sessions was an album called “Monstor” in 1989 (which is apparently still available via the magic of Amazon) and a few cross-country tours in ’89 and ’90. That was pretty much the peak of the thing. Getting into a real studio at record company expense and having technicians sterilize the sound I was trying to produce got frustrating and boring very quickly.
I am curious about the transition from Mr. Worthless to Rev. Munk …
A long a troubling tale, best revealed in small, easily digested chapters. Future posts, I suspect :D
And now we’re all intrigued! :)
Good beat. You’re an interesting guy. Don’t forget to publish when you finish that autobioraphy.